EPA neither confirms nor denies the Chevy Volt's claimed 230 MPG

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I, and many of you, had a bunch of questions when GM announced that under the new EPA guidelines, the Chevy Volt will earn 230 MPG in urban driving conditions. After all the EPA hasn’t tested the Chevy Volt yet and GM was just going off the new criteria. Urban drivers could very well get 230 MPG if they only drive 40 miles a day, but once they go over that and the on-board 1.4 L gasoline generator kicks in, that mileage will drop quickly to a more familiar range. Well, the EPA released a very patriotic statement to Edumnds that doesn’t say a whole lot unfortunately.

EPA has not tested a Chevy Volt and therefore cannot confirm the fuel economy values claimed by GM. EPA does applaud GM’s commitment to designing and building the car of the future – an American-made car that will save families money, significantly reduce our dependence on foreign oil and create good-paying American jobs. We’re proud to see American companies and American workers leading the world in the clean energy innovations that will shape the 21st century economy.

For the sake of Government Motors, lets just hope that once the EPA does send the car through the tests that the official ratings will be on par with what GM said today. Somehow I don’t think that will be the case though.